Portable hygienic water jet having sanitary disposable nozzle protector on non-disposable nozzle

ABSTRACT

A device for producing a jet of water has a portable handheld water reservoir to be filled with warm or cold water manually by the user, a battery powered handheld air or water pump to create water pressure for the generation of water jet which is delivered through a handheld nozzle system, a thin flexible disposable nozzle protector for sanitary protection of the non-disposable nozzle and nozzle tip, and an optional new medicine dispenser on the nozzle system.

SPECIFICATION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a utility application based on and claiming thebenefit of U.S. provisional applications No. 60/352,925, filed Jan. 29,2002 No. 60/366,117, filed Mar. 20, 2002 and No. 60/377,858, filed May4, 2002.

STATEMENTS REGARDING FEDERALLY SPONSORED RESEARCH OR DEVELOPMENT

Not applicable.

REFERENCE TO A MICROFICHE APPENDIX

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Description of the Related Art

The current invention is an improvement over the U.S. Patent, “PortableHygienic Warm Water Jet Having Disposable Nozzle Tip” issued to thecurrent inventor on Nov. 18, 1986 (U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,704). Theabove-mentioned patent will be referred to as “the existing Patent”hereafter.

The existing Patent involves a portable bidet with a heating meansproviding warm water for cleansing the lower torso of the human bodyusing a disposable nozzle, which delivers a stream of warm water jet tothe body.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The current improvements over the existing Patent include the uses of(a) a portable handheld water reservoir to be filled with warm or coldwater manually by the user, (b) a battery powered handheld air or waterpump to create water pressure for the generation of water jet which isdelivered through a handheld nozzle system, (c) a thin flexibledisposable nozzle protector for sanitary protection of thenon-disposable nozzle and nozzle tip. (d) an optional new medicinedispenser on the nozzle system.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

For a fuller understanding of the invention, the following drawings areprovided in conjunction with the detail descriptions of the inventionwhich will be presented in the next section:

FIG. 1A is a semi-cross sectional view of the preferred embodiment ofthe present invention showing two options for the sanitary nozzleprotector.

FIG. 1B is a side view of the preferred embodiment shown in FIG. 1A.

FIG. 1C is an illustration of an example of packaged water to be used tofill the water reservoir.

FIG. 2 is an illustration of examples of the nozzle protectorconfigurations.

FIG. 3 is an illustration of the electronic switch that controls thepumping capacity of the air pump and the strength of the water jet.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of the optional medicine dispenser.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With reference to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the present invention includes ahandheld water reservoir 1 which is formed by the combined inner cavityof shell 1 a and the inner cavity of shell 2. Both shell 1 a and shell 2have the same cross sectional shape, such as a circular cross section,or an elliptical cross section as depicted in FIG. 1B. The cross sectionof shell 1 a is slightly larger than that of shell 2, such that shell 1a can enclose shell 2 leaving a small gap between the inner wall ofshell 1 a and the outer wall of shell 2. Reservoir 1 has its minimumvolume, when shell 1 a encloses shell 2 entirely as depicted in FIG. 1A.Reservoir 1 has its maximum volume when shell 2 extends outward to itslimit in the direction indicated by the arrows 62 a and 62 b. As shownin FIG. 1A, shell 2 has one or more than one “O” ring 12 at its openedend 23. When shell 2 is sliding out of shall 1 a in the directionindicated by the arrows 62 a and 62 b, a cavity with an increasingcombined volume of the inner cavities of shell 1 a and shell 2 isformed. Consequently, this cavity, which is airtight between the innerwall of shell 1 a and the outer wall of shell 2, forms the waterreservoir 1 with variable water capacity. Said water capacity depends onthe amount of the outward extension of shell 2. A stop (not shown) isprovided on the inner edge of the opened end 25 of shell 1 a, such thatthe outward extension of shell 2 stops when the opened end 23 of shell 2reaches location 24 which is indicated by a dotted line near the openedend 25 of shell 1 a.

Also included in the present invention are, an air pump 3 powered bybattery 5, an on-off switch 8 and a nozzle 9 to be covered by a sanitarynozzle protector 10 as depicted in FIG. 1A. The battery 5 can be one ormore than one ordinary battery such as the 1.5 volt AA or AAA typebattery or it can be one or more than one rechargeable battery. Thenozzle 9 can be a straight nozzle or it can be bent at its tip asdepicted in FIG. 1A. With “O” rings 20 on the outer wall of nozzle 9,the water reservoir 1 and the nozzle 9 are connected airtight at anopening 22 of shell 1 a, as shown in FIG. 1A. The “O” ring can also beinstalled on the wall of the opening 22. Nozzle 9 can be easilyconnected and disconnected to water reservoir 1. As depicted by thedotted nozzle contour 21 in FIG. 1A, nozzle 9 can be inserted backwardinto water reservoir 1 for storage purpose. This feature of storingnozzle 9 inside the water reservoir 1 is important for making a compactoverall dimension of the device when the device is not in use, inparticular, when the device is carried by the user in a bag or in asuitcase. An optional nozzle cap (not shown) can be used to cover theopening of nozzle 9 when nozzle 9 is in the storage position inside thewater reservoir 1. As shown in FIG. 1A, a circular stop 22 a having thesame center as that of opening 22, is provided at the inner edge ofopening 22, such that nozzle 9 will stop at a proper location when it isinserted into opening 22 in either direction. When nozzle 9 is insertedin the operational forward direction, it is stopped, as the nozzleentrance 27 reaches stop 22 a, since the entrance 27 is larger indiameter than stop 22 a. When nozzle 9 is inserted in the reverseddirection, it is stopped by the stop 22 a at the location where thenozzle tapering begins. Nozzle 9 can be rotated freely relative to thewater reservoir 1 about the central axis of its cylindrical nozzleentrance, when nozzle 9 is installed in opening 22 in the outwarddirection for operation as shown in FIG. 1A. This central axis of thenozzle entrance coincides with the central axis of the opening 22. Thisfeature of being able to rotate nozzle 9 in the opening 22, provides theuser with an option of choosing his or her preferred water jetting anglerelative to the handheld water reservoir 1, and hence choosing thepreferred water jetting angle relative to his or her hand which holdsthe device at the water reservoir 1.

As shown in FIG. 1A, the air pump 3 and the other electronics, such asthe battery 5 are located in the electronic compartment 17 at the closedend of shell 2. The air pump 3 includes an air inlet opening 7 withinthe electronic compartment 17 and an air outlet 6 which is connected tothe water reservoir 1 as depicted in FIG. 1A. An optional one-way valve4 is installed inside the outlet 6 as a back-up device to keep the waterfrom flowing from water reservoir 1 to the electronic compartment 17. Aswill be discussed later, with a special design electronic switch 8, thewater will not flow into the electronic compartment 17 through airoutlet 6, even if the optional one-way valve 4 is not used, provided thesystem is working normally.

With reference to FIG. 1A, the electronic on-off switch 8 can beinstalled in a groove 19 on the outer wall of shell 2. An air inlet line(shown in FIG. 3 as air passageway 38) can be installed inside groove 19to connect the air inlet opening 7 to the electronic compartment 17.This air inlet line provides air inlet to the air pump inside theelectronic compartment 17. Switch 8 is designed to slide along groove 19back-and-forth in the direction indicated by the arrow 26 shown in FIG.1A. The size of the opening 7 is determined by the position of switch 8on opening 7. The size of the opening 7 is the smallest when the edge 8a of switch 8 is at position 18 a, while the size of the opening 7 isthe largest when the edge 8 a is at position 18 b. The purpose ofcreating a variable size of opening 7 is to control the inlet airflow toair pump 3, and hence to control the air pump output volumetric flowrate. The control of the air pump output volumetric flow rate by meansof the positioning of switch 8 will be discussed in more detail laterwith an illustration in FIG. 3. Both switch 8 and groove 19 are flushedwith, or below the surface of shell 2, such that they slide under shell1 a when shell 2 extends outward in the direction shown by the arrows 62a and 62 b. After shell 2 extends to a predetermined position, switch 8will be no longer under shell 1 a, and becomes reachable by the users.When the device is not in use, switch 8 is pushed to an “off” positionautomatically by a spring (shown in FIG. 3 as spring 31). In thisposition, switch 8 covers the opening 7 completely, and the electroniccompartment 17 becomes airtight with a sole air passageway to the waterreservoir 1 through outlet 6. Under this condition, the water in thewater reservoir 1 will not leak into compartment 17 through outlet 6 dueto the pressure balance, regardless of the performance of the back-upone-way valve 4.

With reference to FIG. 1A, prior to operating the device, the user wouldfill the water reservoir 1 with water through opening 22 before nozzle 9is installed in opening 22. The user may use warm or cold tap water tofill the water reservoir 1. The user may also fill the water reservoir 1with a bag or a container of packaged water, or with a combination oftap water and the packaged water. An example of such packaged water isillustrated in FIG. 1C where the packaged water 66 is packed in aplastic bag 67 with a re-closable opening at 69 and a water outlet 70which is created by cutting off the bag at 68 along the indicated dashedline. The packaged water 66 can be water with or without fragrant. Itcan be water with soap or medication. The packaged water can also be aconcentrated solution packaged in a bottle with a dropper.

After nozzle 9 is installed in opening 22, nozzle 9 will be completelyor partially covered by the sanitary nozzle protector 10. The entiredevice will then be rotated up side down such that nozzle 9 will be atthe bottom. When the air pump 3 is on, the air pressure pushes the waterin water reservoir 1 out to nozzle 9, provided that nozzle 9 is at thepredetermined operational location below the water reservoir 1. Itshould be noted that air pump 3 can be located either above or below thewater reservoir 1.

Similar to a balloon or surgical glove with openings at two ends, theoriginal shape of the sanitary nozzle protector 10, before it isexpanded to cover nozzle 9, can be a small thin-wall tubing 64 with arelatively large opening 29 (having a conical shape) as shown in FIG.1A. At the other end 15, there is one or more than one small hole forreleasing the water. When the sanitary nozzle protector 10 is expendedand cover nozzle 9, its overall shape becomes similar to that of nozzle9 with the opening 29 a as indicated by the nozzle protector 10 a inFIG. 1A. When the device is in use, nozzle 9 is completely or partiallycovered by the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a such that the potentiallycontaminated water bouncing back from the user's body will notcontaminate nozzle 9 or any nozzle tip as part of nozzle 9. The sanitarynozzle protector can be extended to cover and to protect a portion ofthe water reservoir 1, which connects to nozzle 9. In this case, thesanitary nozzle protector is made longer and with larger opening 29 b.The water that is delivered from the tip of nozzle 9 is released from asmall hole on end 15 a of the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a as depictedin FIG. 1A. The sanitary nozzle protector 10 can be made of a thinflexible soft material, such as latex, thin plastic or paper, and isdesigned to be disposable after use. Unlike a solid nozzle or a solidnozzle tip, a flexible soft sanitary nozzle protector 10 can be flattenand packed in layers with other sanitary nozzle protectors occupyingrelatively small storage space. The cost of a sanitary nozzle protectorcan be substantially less than that of a solid nozzle or a solid nozzletip. One or more nozzle protector fastener 11 can be provided on nozzle9 as shown in FIG. 1A to catch the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a atabout location 28 and to hold the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a tightlyon nozzle 9. A hook (not shown) can also be installed on nozzle 9 tocatch the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a, and to fasten the protector onthe nozzle. When the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a is in place,covering nozzle 9, the end 16 of nozzle 9 is located under position 13of the sanitary nozzle protector 10 a. The sanitary nozzle protector 10a is extended beyond position 13 to position 14 to ensure a completeprotection of nozzle 9 at the tip. The extended portion also provides asoft contact to the user's body, in case the nozzle system touches theuser's body accidentally. The sanitary nozzle protector 10 can bedesigned to provide various water spraying patterns. Three examples ofthe sanitary nozzle protector creating three different water sprayingpatterns are shown in FIG. 2, where the nozzle protector 40 is designedto spray water with a single water jet in the forward direction, and thenozzle protector 41 provides waterjets in side ways in addition to asingle forward jet as shown by the arrows, while the nozzle protector 42sprays water in all directions. The sanitary nozzle protector makespossible to provide variety of nozzle spray patterns by the use of asingle non-disposable nozzle.

As mentioned earlier, the user can control the amount of air inlet tothe air pump 3 by properly positioning switch 8, and hence controllingthe size of opening 7 as depicted in FIG. 1A. The less air being fedinto air pump 3 from opening 7, the less the pumping capacity of airpump 3, and hence less water is delivered to nozzle 9. The opposite istrue until the air pump capacity reaches its maximum. FIG. 3 illustratesan example of the mechanism of switch 8 that controls the airflow andhence controls the strength of the water jet delivered through nozzle 9.

As shown in FIG. 3, the switch system includes a cylindrical switch 8which slides on a cylindrical air passageway 38 as shown. The airpassageway 38 has an approximately triangular shaped opening 7 as shownin FIG. 3, with the end 18 a having a narrower opening and the end 18 bhaving a wider opening. The change in the width of the opening 7 can belinear, exponential or in any other way. One end of the air passageway38 is connected without air leak to the electronic compartment 17 asindicated by an arrow 39 in FIG. 3. The other end of 38 is closed,making opening 7, the only air inlet to air pump 3, since the electroniccompartment 17 is sealed airtight at any other location on its wallsexcept at the air outlet 6. As depicted in FIG. 3, optional “O” rings 30a and 30 b are installed on the inner wall of switch 8 ensuring no airleakage between the inner wall of switch 8 and the outer wall of airpassageway 38. With reference to FIG. 3, when the device is not in use,spring 31 pushes switch 8 to an “off” position. At this position, bothedge 35 a and “O” ring 30 a are located slightly beyond location 18 a,while both edge 35 b and “O” ring 30 b are located slightly beyondlocation 18 b. With this switch “off” position, the opening 7 iscompletely covered by switch 8 without air leak. Both switch 8 and airpassageway 38 can be made to a tight clearance such that any air leakthrough their inter face becomes negligible even without “O” rings 30 aand 30 b. When the device is in use, the user moves switch 8 along 38 inthe direction from locations 18 a to 18 b. As depicted in FIG. 3, aspring-loaded rod 33 is placed at the close vicinity of the closed end34 of switch 8 when the switch is at the “off” position. The end 34 ismade of a conductor material. When the end 34 contacts 33, after aslight initial displacement of switch 8, the end 34 contacts both spring32 and spring 33, which are connected one-to-one to two opened ends (notshown) of the DC circuit, hence the electrical circuit is closed. Theuser can choose to position edge 35 a at any location between 18 a and18 b, while the circuit is closed and the DC power is on. The closer theedge 35 a is to 18 b, the more airflow is allowed to flow into theopening 7, and hence the bigger the air pump output. This results in astronger water jet delivered from nozzle 9.

The air pump 3 can be replaced by an optional water pump (not shown). Inthis case, the water pump shall be placed at the other end of the waterreservoir 1, such that the water in the water reservoir 1 will be abovethe water pump during operation. In operation, the water flows into thewater pump through an inlet (not shown) by means of the gravitationalforce before it is pumped to nozzle 9. The advantages of using an airpump, that is preferred in the present invention, as compared to usingan optional water pump, are:

(1) Using an air pump, the water in the nozzle can be pushed outcompletely at the normal pumping speed during the final stage ofpumping. Using a water pump, however, the water in the nozzle cannot bepumped out at the normal pumping speed during the final stage ofpumping. Because after the water reaches a level below the water pumplocation, the water pump can no longer pump out the water in the nozzlewhich is located below the water pump. Therefore, the water in thenozzle can only flow out mostly by the gravitational force rather thanthe water pump pressure.

(2) Proper nozzle designs, such as the nozzle 9 configuration shown inFIG. 1A, can be feasibly adopted only in the case an air pump is used inthe system. The tapered nozzle shown in FIG. 1A minimizes thebackpressure with special converging cross sectional areas of the nozzlechannel. Such nozzle holds relatively large amount of water, due to itsrelatively large entrance area. With the air above the water, an airpump can push all the water out of the nozzle at the normal pumpingspeed during the final stage of pumping. If a water pump is used,however, a relatively large amount of water will be left un-pumped inthe nozzle, for the reason explained above. The only feasible nozzleconfiguration for a system using a water pump will be the one with anon-tapered small passageway to minimize the un-pumped water. Such waterpassageway, however, creates relatively high backpressure, and itrequires a pump with a relatively large capacity to overcome suchbackpressure in order to maintain a proper water flow.

(3) As an optional application of the device, the user can continue toblow the air through the nozzle system for a drying purpose, after thewater is pumped out completely, provided a larger capacity air pump isused. This air-drying option is not obtainable, if a water pump is usedin the system.

(4) The air pump can be installed on either side of the water reservoir.The water pump, however, can only be installed on the lower side of theoperational position of the water reservoir, giving a restriction in thedesign of the device.

Shown in FIG. 4 is an optional medicine dispenser 54, which includes acover 50 and a medicine bag 55. A straw 56 is extended from inside bag55 to the outside of the bag. The straw 56 is heat sealed to the openingof bag 55 such that the medicine can only be dispensed through straw 56.In operation, straw 56 is inserted to a hole 59, which is connected tonozzle 9 through a one-way valve 58. The one-way valve allows themedicine to flow into nozzle 9, but to keep the water from flowing intostraw 56 from nozzle 9. The cover 50 is hinged to nozzle 9 at hinge 57.A spring (not shown) is used at hinge 57 to force the cover 50 turningtowards the direction of nozzle 9. When cover 50 is pressed by the userin the direction indicated by the arrow, a controlled amount of medicinein bag 55 is pushed into nozzle 9 through the straw 56, the hole 59 andthe one-way valve 58.

Certain variations may be made to the preferred embodiment as would beknown to one of ordinary skill in the art without departing from thespirit of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A portable apparatus for producing a jet ofwater, comprising: a shell having a reservoir wherein the shell has asize capable of being held in a hand; wherein the shell includes a firstshell piece and a second shell piece which connects to and slides insidethe first shell piece; a nozzle connected to the shell and to thereservoir; a protector for fitting over the nozzle; and a pump mountedin the shell.
 2. A portable apparatus for producing a jet of watercomprising: a shell having an internal reservoir wherein the shellhaving the internal reservoir has a handheld size; a nozzle connected tothe shell and to the reservoir; a protector for fitting over the nozzle;a pump mounted in the shell; a switch for the pump mounted the shellwherein the-switch-includes a means for controlling the strength of thejet of the water and, wherein said means for controlling the strength ofthe jet of water comprises a means for controlling the inlet flow to thepump.
 3. A portable apparatus for producing a jet of water, comprising:a shell having an internal reservoir wherein the shell having theinternal reservoir has a handheld size; a nozzle connected to the shelland to the reservoir; a protector for fitting over the nozzles; whereinthe shell includes a circular stop which defines a circular opening; andwherein the nozzle includes a cylindrical nozzle entrance whichrotatably connects to shell along the circular stop.
 4. The apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the shell further has a nozzle storagecompartment accessible through the circular opening.